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OEA/Ser.P
AG/RES. 1835 (XXXI-O/01)
5 June 2001
Original: Spanish
INTER-AMERICAN PROGRAM OF COOPERATION TO PREVENT AND REMEDY CASES OF INTERNATIONAL ABDUCTION OF MINORS BY ONE OF THEIR PARENTS
(Resolution adopted at the fourth plenary session, held on June 5, 2001;.
subject to review by the Style Committee)
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,
HAVING SEEN:
The Annual Report of the Inter-American Children's Institute to the General Assembly (CP/doc.3419/01);
The 1980 Hague Convention on the civil aspects of international child abduction;
The Inter-American Convention on the International Return of Children, of July 15, 1989;
The 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child;
Resolution AG/RES. 1691 (XXIX-O/99), "International Abduction of Minors by One of Their Parents;"
Resolution AG/RES. 1742 (XXX-O/00), "International Abduction of Minors by One of Their Parents";Resolution AG/RES. 1733 (XXX-O/00), "Inter-American Year of the Child and the Adolescent"; and
The Plan of Action to strengthen democracy, create prosperity, and realize human potential, adopted at the Third Summit of the Americas, held in Quebec City, Canada, on April 22, 2001;
CONSIDERING:
Resolution AG/RES. 1667 (XXIX-O/99), "Inclusion of Children's Issues on the Hemispheric Agenda," which states that it is absolutely essential that children's issues be given priority consideration in inter-American political forums, especially in the General Assembly of the OAS;
The desirability of encouraging and intensifying cooperation in the Hemisphere on issues related to children and adolescents; and
The recognition expressed in the Plan of Action of the Third Summit of the Americas that promoting the rights of children and their development, protection, and participation is essential to ensure that they reach their full potential;
NOTING IN PARTICULAR that the Plan of Action of the Third Summit of the Americas encourages cooperation to reduce cases of international abduction of children by one of their parents;
CONVINCED that the abduction of children by one of their parents is a problem with dire repercussions on their integral development and well-being and one that may be exacerbated by the increasing displacement of persons outside national frontiers in a progressively more globalized society;
REAFFIRMING that it is a fundamental right of children to be brought up and to develop in the care and custody of their parents, and to maintain personal relations with both parents on a regular basis, even when the parents reside in different States; and
CONSIDERING the need to boost and intensify, through inter-American cooperation activities, the efforts of member states to prevent the international abduction of minors and promote their restitution,
RESOLVES:
1. To urge member states to consider signing and ratifying, ratifying, or acceding to, as soon as possible and as the case may be, "The Hague Convention of 25 October 1980 on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction," "The Inter-American Convention on the International Return of Children, of July 15, 1989," and "The Hague Convention of 29 May 1993 on Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of Inter-country Adoption" and to call on States Parties to comply with their obligations under this Convention in order to prevent and remedy cases of international parental child abduction.
2. To instruct the Permanent Council, with the support and under the auspices of the Inter-American Children's Institute (IACI), to review the possibility of convening, in the near future, a meeting of government experts on the subject of the international abduction of children by one of their parents, in accordance with the resources allocated in the program-budget and other resources, and to report to the Permanent Council.
3. To recommend, further, that the meeting of government experts should consider preparing an inter-American program on cooperation to prevent and remedy cases of international abduction of minors by one of their parents with specific objectives, including the establishment of a network for the exchange of information and for cooperation among the competent national bodies in member states on the different regulatory and legal aspects involved in preventing and settling cases of abduction.
4. To request the Permanent Council to invite the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and the Inter-American Juridical Committee to lend their support and legal and technical assistance, within their respective spheres of competence for the organization and holding of the meeting of government experts.
5. To request the Inter-American Children's Institute, to prepare a report on the status of international abduction of minors by one of their parents in the Americas to be presented to the meeting of government experts.
6. To invite member states, permanent observers, international organizations, multilateral financial institutions, and civil society organizations to collaborate and cooperate with the meeting of government experts.
7. To direct that the recommendations of the meeting of government experts be submitted to the 77th Meeting of the IACI Directing Council for consideration, and the decisions taken by the IACI Directing Council in fulfillment of this resolution be forwarded to the General Assembly for consideration at its thirty-second regular session.